BB&T's board of directors approved $2.6 million in incentives for its top five executives, pending the completion of the bank's acquisition of Lititz, Pa.-based Susquehanna Bancshares and subsequent conversion of its 243 branches. The $2.5 billion deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

Charlotte-based Babcock & Wilcox split into two companies Tuesday. The company's power-generation business was spun off into a company called Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises and remains based in Charlotte. The government and nuclear operations business is called BWX Technologies and is now based in Lynchburg, Va. Both companies will begin trading separately on the NYSE July 1.

Fast-growing Brunswick County will establish an economic-development department Wednesday after all members of a local economic-development commission resigned. Brunswick County Manager Ann Hardy will become interim director of the new department, while Jim Bradshaw, executive director of the commission, will become a special adviser until he retires in October.Related: Board of economic development group resigns, Greater Wilmington Business Journal

Rooms to Go will begin hiring this month for its Dunn distribution center, which is expected to open in August. The $40 million project will create the company's second largest U.S. distribution center.

The federal Export-Import Bank was set to expire Tuesday, despite protests from the National Association of Manufacturers, which says the bank's existence is critical for the U.S. to compete in the global marketplace.Related: Local companies disappointed at export-import bank sunset, Greater Wilmington Business Journal

White Oak Carpet Mills will add 40 jobs at its carpet- and rug-manufacturing operations in Rutherford County. The company will invest more than $4.1 million over three years in Spindale, where it has being making rugs for 16 years. White Oak is a division of Wichita, Kansas-based CAP Carpet.

North Carolina's economy will grow at a faster rate from now until the end of 2015, according to a biannual forecast by N.C. State University economist Michael Walden. Walden predicts the state unemployment rate will fall to 5.5% and N.C. will add 105,000 nonfarm jobs.